Destined to Repeat
by Jeice Lover
Summary: The strands of fate can be odd and confusing, like the filaments in a spider's web. They can twist and turn in any which way imaginable. However, if just one of these threads were to change, all of the others would twist along with it. So, what might happen if just one thread were to twist, bringing together two threads that have been separated since days of old?
1. Chapter 1

_Long ago, in the days that the dark still fought strong against the light, there was a point where it seemed that the light of humans might be extinguished. Even with their bravery, valor, and will to fight for the lives they loved, the humans were weak against the monsters that the darkness conjured. It seemed that not even Dust, their mightiest weapon, could turn the war around from this point. Humanity, it seemed, would be erased from the world, and the light would be extinguished. Forever._

_However, on their darkest day, when all people could do nothing but fall to their knees and pray for a spark to light the way to victory, She appeared._

_A lone girl, no more than sixteen years of age, with no one knowing who she was or from whence she came, entered the rooms of the king and walked past the people. Dressed in the armor of a man, but with her beautiful face clear for all to see, she walked up to the king and fell on one knee. With head bowed, she addressed him:_

"_**My good and gentle ruler, I have come to you under a divine guide. I have received a message, from the King who rules all kings. He has proclaimed that your armies shall stand strong and push back the darkness, and save His people from destruction. I beg of you, my good sire, grant me 100 men and as many horses, and I shall drive back the creatures who threaten to extinguish our light."**_

_The king, desperate to find a way to grant his people hope, gave the girl what she wanted, and ordered his troops to follow her as their commander. With a mighty blade grasped in one hand, and a shield emblazoned with a duo of crescent moons, she led the way, and forged herself and her troops through the darkness._

Soft, muted sunlight began to drift into the bedroom, slipping just past the heavy curtains over the windows. Under his sheets, a sleeping blond stirred, and slowly sat up in bed. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms up over his head. He had slept like a rock last night, he hardly remembered his dream about...whatever it was he had been dreaming about. Blue eyes blinked slowly, and he scratched his head with his right hand. The morning was peaceful and quiet, and he felt relaxed.

That is, until he glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

"I SLEPT IN!"

–

The time after Jaune had woken up were spent in a flurry of activity up until he left his house. Luckily his bags had been packed the night before, or he wouldn't have gotten out of the house just in the nick of time. His mother and father had been awoken by his stumbling around the house, were just there to kiss and hug him out the door, as they knew their son wanted to make his way to his school all on his own.

"Goodbye, _mon petit Jaune_," his mother smiled as she kissed him on the forehead. "I hope you have a good time in your boarding school."

"Of course he will, Marie, don't be ridiculous. You're going to have a wonderful time at Roscuro, aren't you?" Jaune almost paused, but caught himself.

"Sure will, dad," he smiled, almost a bit too much. He still hadn't revealed to his parents that he had been 'accepted' into Beacon Academy for Hunstmen and Huntresses, and would not be attending Roscuro Academy for the Artistically Gifted as they had planned. He didn't care what they had said when he was a child, he had the blood of warriors in him! And, hey, Beacon was a combat school, so who cared if he didn't know how to fight? He would just learn there, right? His father, unaware of their son's differing ideas, smiled warmly and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's my boy." He glanced off to Jaune's mother, and leaned in to whisper confidentially. "Now, you remember what I told you about winning girls, right?" The blond chuckled and nodded.

"I know, I know. Confidence." His father grinned again, and pulled his son in for a warm hug, which Marie quickly joined in on.

"You're going to do us proud, Jaune, I know you will. Just do your best, and remember, we love you no matter what."

"I know, mom... thanks." He kissed his parents goodbye again, and ran out the door towards the waiting taxi, waving over his shoulder. "I'm gonna make you guys proud! I promise!" he shouted, waving.

_Just not in the way you think I will._


	2. Chapter 2

_The general stood in the center of her camp, looking about at the bustling of her soldiers. It was almost as if the army's camp was a little town. There was the mess tent, where people would get their supplies. Then there was a couple of the soldiers tents that had somehow turned into a sort of barter center (all contraband items quickly found and discarded of, if there were any, of course). Then there were the tents, lined up so orderly and neatly. Even the soldiers going about their duties seemed almost normal. Even in spite of the weapons they carried, and their bodies so full of scars, they carried themselves just as if they were anyone else. And this filled her with pride._

_However, when she looked more, she found something odd. There was one person who was not within the hustle and bustle of the army camp. Curious, she strode over to the spot and stood beside them. It was a young man, perhaps a year or so younger than herself. He was lying out on the grass, eyes closed, and seemingly sleeping in the shade of a large oak tree._

"_**You, what is it you are doing over here? Why are you not joining all the rest in their joyful times? This is a brief time of rest before the war begins, you ought to be enjoying yourself.**"_

_The lad opened his eyes, and the general found a pair of bright, silver eyes staring up at her._

"_**Oh, you need not fear, general, I am enjoying myself. I am only taking a nap out here in nature. I felt as though a brief nap might be a good thing to replenish the body and give myself a touch of inner peace before our battles.**" He looked up at her, with her thin, squared shoulders supporting the heavy armor on her petite frame, and the short-cut blonde locks that framed her face._

"_**Still, you ought to join with all the rest. This army needs to have its fullest potential for cooperation if we wish to push back the darkness. So you ought to come to know your fellows before that. Here.**"_

_The general extended a hand down to him, thin fingers reaching towards him as sky blue eyes gazed upon his relaxed face, and those odd silver eyes of his. The soldier gazed up at her, for just a moment, but finally took up her hand and allowed her help in pulling him to his feet. As the dark red cloak over his shoulders picked up in the afternoon breeze._

–

Jaune wiped at his mouth. Airships. _Why_ did it have to be airships? The one thing that made him vomit more than anything else in this world? He _really_ hoped no one would recognize his face. This was probably the worst first day in the entire history of worst first days.

Well...maybe _second_ worst. He was hanging around a tree, trying to recover from his vomiting session and gain his bearings on where to go next, when he overheard a commotion. Well, more like an explosion. He had jumped when a gigantic 'boom' seemed to rock the ground itself, and looked to find its source. That wasn't difficult, considering how that girl in all white was yelling at some girl with a red cape. He felt sort of sorry for her, really. That girl was really laying into her.

He felt bad, but kept watching, until some girl in black came up. She said something, he was too far to hear what exactly, and the white girl snatched something away from the red girl and stomped off, after which the black girl seemed to sashay off in the opposite direction.

"Geez, wonder what all that was about," he wondered aloud to himself. Talking out loud was a bad habit, he knew, but he couldn't help it sometimes. As he watched on, he saw the girl in red fall onto her knees, and then onto her back. Normally he was one to try and stay on the sidelines, but he was at Beacon now. He was training to be a hero to help people. Besides, his mother had always taught him to help people in need of a helping hand or a supporting shoulder. So, he walked up to the girl on her back, and held out a hand.

"Hey." He spoke, letting her know that he was there. He saw her move and look up at him, and he went on. "I'm Jaune." The hand was still extended, and he was looking at her kindly. He hoped that she would accept, he genuinely wanted to help.

"...Ruby." She took his hand, and he helped to pull her to her feet. Now that he looked at her... she was really young looking. Her face was very youthful, and her build wasn't quite mature like most other girls their age... if she _was_ his age. He wasn't sure... But her looks weren't really what made him look at her closely. It was her eyes. Bright silver, like people used to say the moon was in days of old...

His moment of silent contemplation was interrupted when she snorted with laughter.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"


	3. Chapter 3

_The youth narrowed his eyes and rushed through the forest, bright eyes keeping an eye on every shadow as bright petals trailed in his wake. His semblance was allowing him to move swift as the northern winds, but speed alone was not his goal at this moment. The orders had been simple: scatter out into the forest from their divergence point on the cliffs, and find one another later, slaying as many of the dark creatures as crossed their paths. There were secondary orders there as well. When one soldier found another, they were to stay by their side until the army re-grouped as a whole once more._

_He stopped suddenly, feeling the rush of his cloak catch up to him as the cloth was flung against his body. There was something out there, watching... he could feel it in his bones. He reached for his weapon, a rather unconventional twin-headed axe. Unusual for a soldier of the king's army, not so for a woodcutter, as that was what he had been before he had chosen to use his skills to assist the people against the darkness._

_A dark shape lunged from the shadowy underbrush, and the woodcutter, snapped to a defensive stance. The creature was upon him, large and fanged, with glowing crimson eyes glaring into his very soul. He retreated a few steps, aided by his semblance, and forged into battle with the beast. It slashed with claws, snapped with fangs, and attempted to crush him with its massive, dark body. However, his heavy axe countered these swipes, and he matched the beast blow for blow._

_The woodsman forced the creature back, determination flashing behind bright silver eyes. Slowly, he was backing the beast closer to a tree, and ever closer to its demise. He was swinging his axe back, prepared to make the final blow, when he heard the sound of steel slicing through the air. The beast froze before him and, with a low whimper, fell heavily to the ground at his feet. The woodcutter looked up, and was astounded to see his general there, standing on the back of the fallen behemoth. She stared down at him with a sharp gaze, sky colored eyes wise and brave far beyond their years._

"_Has the beast harmed you?" she asked with a voice whose tone was soft, yet woodcutter gazed up at his commander, and smiled slightly._

"_No... you slayed it before it could," he responded. It was not for him to say that he had been doing well enough on his own. It was an honor to be assisted in battle by one's superior officers, let alone a general._

"_That is good, I don't like to think of one of my soldier being harmed by one of the Grimm. I am happy I got here in time to stop it." She hopped off of the beast's back, and walked past him into the woods. "Come, we do not have time to dally here, there is much ground to cover before nightfall. As of now, you are my partner, and will remain as such until we exit the forest."_

"_Yes sir," the woodsman responded, smiling. And so, with the general in the lead, the two continued on to forge their way through the Diopside Forest._

–

"_BIRDY NO!_" Ruby cried out as she slammed right into a small, passing bird, on her descent into the forest. The teen grimaced as she shot aside a few obstacle branches in her flight-path, then extended her scythe in order to swing herself up and over a tree, until she landed neatly on the ground. At which point, she leaped to her feet and sprinted forward.

_Whew, that was close_, she thought to herself as she ran on, unimpeded by bushes or trees. _Now, just gotta find Yang. Then we'll be together, and she'll be my partner. And I won't have to team up with anyone and have things be all awkward. It'll all be good._ She smiled at the thought, until another thought came to her. _Oh no, but what if she already found someone and has a partner when I find her? Oh, what'll I do?!_

Ruby made a slightly panicked face at the thought. No worries, there could be someone else. Let's see...there was maybe Weiss. She seemed really smart, and strong!... no, Weiss didn't like her. Oh! Or maybe Blake! She liked books, and was so mysterious. Then again, she was so quiet, might be hard to make a conversation with her... The girl growled in frustration. Think Ruby! Wasn't there anyone else?! There had to be someone or...or... Was that screaming she heard?

The brunette looked up, and started when she saw a screaming speck hurtle overhead.

"Jaune?!" Ruby said in surprise, watching him flip through the air with no control over his motions. "Oh no! Hang on Jaune! I'm coming to help!" The girl took off like a shot, using her semblance to keep pace with him. Oh, but this was still bad. Very very bad. She wasn't running fast enough, and he was still falling. If he kept up like this, then he'd..." She was abruptly interrupted in her thoughts when she heard something quickly approaching. Before she could even turn to look, she saw a streak of red fly through the air, snag Jaune's hood, and carry him a small ways further into the woods before she heard the sound of something sticking into a tree.

"...Thank you!" she could hear Jaune say loudly from a ways ahead of her. From somewhere behind, Ruby thought she could hear the faint sound of someone calling an apology in return. Ruby made her way through the brush, and cam into a clearing where she found Jaune, dangling from a tree by a long, red javeline that had impaled his hood. From whas she could see, he was trying, and failing, to pull himself free from the weapon.

"Ugh...Come! On! You! Stupid!" With each word, he was trying to pull the weapon out by the staff, but it wasn't budging.

"Jaune?" The blond started when he heard someone down below him, and smiled with a touch of embarrassment when he saw Ruby standing there.

"Oh... uh... Hey there...Ruby," he said slowly. Ruby giggled a bit, seeing him dangling up there.

"Do you need help getting down from there?" she asked, smiling.

"What? Me? No, I mean, I'm fine. I'll get myself down in a minute and..." he trailed off, seeing the incredulous smile she had on her face. "Yeah, I'm sorta stuck. I could use a little help getting down. Please." Ruby smiled and laughed a bit more.

"Okay, Jaune, give me a minute and I'll help you down." Ruby got out Crescent Rose, and held it at the ready. "Hold still." She leaped into the air, arcing her scythe so it hit the staff of the red javeline, knocking it out of the tree, and sending both it, and Jaune, to the ground. The blond yelled a bit, and them let out an 'oof' when he hit the ground. "There you go," Ruby smiled helpfully.

"Ugh...thank you, Ruby," Jaune said as he shakily pushed himself to his elbows. Ruby picked up the javeline that had pinned him, wondering why it looked so familiar. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes, and she looked up in surprise. She was about to drop the other weapon and ready Crescent Rose, when she heard familiar voices from the other side of the brush.

"From what you told me of it's trajectory, I believe that your javeline should have landed right about...oh." From out of the bushes, a familiar head of white hair emerged gingerly. Weiss narrowed her eyes when she saw Ruby standing there, not to mention Jaune still lying on the ground. "Oh, it's you," she said flatly.

"Did you say something, Weiss?" came another voice from the bushes. From in-between the brush appeared Pyrrah, the redheaded girl whom Ruby recognized as having pinned Jaune with the same weapon earlier that day. "Ah, one of our comrades in arms, hello," the redhead greeted in a friendly tone.

"Hi," Ruby responded with a smile. "Um... here's your spear-thingy," she said as she held out Pyrrah's weapon.

"Ah, you've picked up Milo for me. Thank you." She took her weapon from Ruby, then looked down at Jaune, who was just getting up from his knees. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head. "Just, ah...thanks for the save back there. I probably would have splatted if you hadn't helped me out there.

"I'm glad that I could have helped," Pyrrah reponded simply. There was a touch of silence between the four, which quickly became awkward. After a few moments of this, Jaune turned towards the forest and pointed.

"Well I...guess we'd better be going then," he said awkwardly. "Come on Ruby."

"Huh?" Ruby looked at him with confusion.

"We're partners, remember? First person you meet in the forest is the one you're supposed to partner up with...I _was_ the first person you met, right?"

"Wah... ah! Right! You were!" Ruby remembered suddenly. "Um, so... yeah, you're right, let's get going," she said. The two in agreement, they walked off towards the trees, still waving back at the new pair of Pyrrah and Weiss. "Um, we'll catch you guys later! See you back at the cliffs!"

"Goodbye," Pyrrah answered with her own wave, looking slightly disappointed for some reason. With these final goodbyes said, the new duo of Jaune and Ruby went on, and disappeared into the trees.


End file.
